Alfredo E. Cardenas

In Texas, to hear the words “Duval County” evokes Archie and George Parr, politics, and corruption. But this does not represent the full truth about this South Texas county and its Tejano citizens. Duval County Tejanos showcases Tejanos engaged in community life: they organized politically, cultivated land, and promoted agriculture, livestock raising, the local economy, churches, schools, patriotic celebrations, and social activities. In 1876 Duval County citizens formally petitioned Nueces County for the opportunity to organize themselves. During the late nineteenth century, the Duval County economy exhibited vitality and adaptability; sheep and cattle raising and cotton farming anchored and sustained the local economy. By the twentieth century, the political atmosphere intensified under the Parrs as Tejanos pushed forward their agenda of assuming their proper role, consistent with their numbers.

This book uses a variety of characters, real and imagined, to tell the story of a people who went from being Spaniard to Mexican to American in a short span of 30 years. They struggled to hold on to their land, their language, their culture, and their history-against insurmountable odds. At times this struggle resorted to violence. This is a historical novel depicting the "Plan of San Diego, Texas," one of those times when the struggle became violent. They lived in what can truly be called "Medio M xico." It was an area that was claimed by distant capitals in M xico City and Washington DC, but ruled by neither; neither knew or cared much about them. They were caught in between two languages, two cultures, two legal systems, two political systems, and two monetary and economic systems. Despite it all, they survived and flourished. It was not easy by any means; to survive they had to fight and die for what they believed, what they owned, what they knew, what they wanted for their children. This book uses fictional characters to tell their story. The characters are fictional but they are authentic. They are not based on any one person but rather are a compilation of various real persons and the imagination of the author-formed by historical knowledge and his own experiences. Their conversations and interactions with real persons, such as President Woodrow Wilson, President Venustiano Carranza, and all the other historical figures are imaginary but they are based on who these historical figures were, said, and did.